Shenali D Waduge

Navi Pillay must thank her lucky stars that those who garlanded her did not do what they did to Rajiv Gandhi inspite of both he and mother helping LTTE rise to power. That was because LTTE was annihilated by Sri Lanka”‘s armed forces and the woman who garlanded her was a former LTTE cadre successfully rehabilitated. Probably that prompted her to tell the Tamil Diaspora holding foreign passports but calling for Eelam in Sri Lanka not to “‘honor the LTTE”‘ and that there was “‘no place for the glorification of such a ruthless organization”‘. It would have been nicer had Navi Pillay referred to LTTE as a “‘ruthless organization”‘ before its demise and while Prabakaran was at his height of terror instead of after its defeat given that she had numerous occasions to say so but chose not to. Why did Ms. Pillay never take on the LTTE before its demise? Why does she continue to be silent on the role of the LTTE fronts some of whom canvass and lobby in the halls of Geneva disguised as humanitarian angels while others run charities that have raised funds for terror. Simply saying LTTE was a “‘murderous organization”‘ after their murdering days are over is not acceptable.

If Ms. Pillay thinks that by claiming she is a proud “‘South African”‘ she can absolve herself from the allegation that there is a conflict of interest in her being an ethnic Tamil, genetically and emotionally linked for that was why she had attempted to throw flowers in memory of the dead at the Nandikadal Lagoon “- we are not so naƒÆ’‚¯ve not to equate memory of the dead in Nandikadal as remembering the dead LTTE and Prabakaran himself. For having started her tour in Sri Lanka she could have easily placed flowers throughout Colombo starting with the Central Bank where hundreds of people died because of the LTTE and thousands more are without eyes. Why did she chose ONLY Nandikadal lagoon to throw flowers?

We are not calling Ms. Pillay a “‘Tamil Tigress in the UN”‘ but we are strongly of the opinion that Ms. Pillay being a Tamil needs to realize that the scale of impartiality is heavily imbalanced when she is an ethnic Tamil even though she is a proud “‘South African”‘ “- let us remind Ms. Pillay that there are so many proud Tamil Germans, Tamil Canadians, Tamil British, Tamil Americans and Tamil Australians who had been calling for an Eelam and raising funds for the LTTE and their crime machine and still continue to do so within an other illegal nexus aligned to numerous other terrorist movements. Therefore, Ms. Pillay can be a proud South African but she should know that even judges withdraw from cases when they are aware of the conflict especially when others have voiced concerns about the conflict. The call to withdraw is really Ms. Pillays because any righteous thinking and behaving judge would make the call and not evade the issue by portraying the victim. Ms. Pillay must know that declaring she is a “‘proud South African”‘ is itself inappropriate because once in the UN system UN staff ceases to hold any attachments to nation, ethnicity, religion or creed”‚¦ by saying she is a proud South African she has openly disqualified herself.

We remain a little perturbed as to what “‘credible”‘ investigation Ms. Pillay is seeking. Is it investigations that will satisfy the agenda of people trying to divide the country, should the process be aligned to those who want to devolve Sri Lanka? Exactly what type of investigation is this lady seeking Sri Lanka to carry out? Besides what puzzles all of us is that having spent 7 days in Sri Lanka why she chose not to directly demand answers to the supposed 40,000 to 125,000 dead, allegations which have become a core argument against Sri Lanka. Is it possible that she knew that such an allegation would be met with demands for direct proof of allegation by the defense secretary that she chose to leave the allegation in limbo so that it could be loosely used against the Government at any time? Sometimes it serves a diplomatic advantage to keep allegations at allegation level as it provides means to scare and force compromise by the Government.

Given that Ms. Pillay is on record for at least now calling the LTTE a “‘ruthless organization”‘ and claiming that “‘there is no place for its glorification”‘ we hope that she will ensure that she takes action against the LTTE front organizations. If Ms. Pillay can take the first step by calling the LTTE as “‘murderous”‘ and an “‘organization”‘ the latter which we would agree she next needs to follow through by investigating LTTE atrocities including all LTTE fronts presently attempting to continue LTTE terror and planning to relaunch in Tamil Nadu, India and if any office is to be opened it is in Tamil Nadu for that is where the root of the Eelam struggle finds itself and Ms. Pillay being a proud “‘South African BUT Tamil should know that too well.

Ms. Pillay also claims the people were still suffering and how true for we are still waiting for Ms. Pillay and her coterie to investigate Diaspora role and LTTE front organizations for all the crimes committed by the LTTE on Sinhalese, Muslims and even Tamils. This is the suffering that continues to plague the people. She should also wonder how the people would have continued to suffer far more than the suffering she is implying if as the West had insisted the military stopped the military offensive and allowed Prabakaran to escape.The North and East would have continued to be living in the stone age without electricity had the LTTE continued to prevail according to the wishes of the West and India. If Ms. Pillay wants to do justice for the people whose “‘wounds ill not heal and reconciliation will not happen without respect for those who grieve”‘ then surely she has to take action against the present LTTE fronts inclusive of the TNA for their role in encouraging and participating in terror including some members of civil society who had also played direct and indirect roles. Only a thorough investigation would reveal their crimes.

Can Ms. Pillay please explain how with all the development that her naked eye was witness to what signs she saw to depict the country was heading in an “‘increasingly authoritarian direction”‘? We demand to know in point form what aspects makes her belief Sri Lanka is taking the authoritarian path. Please don”‘t let us presume that this statement is just part of the jigsaw that is laid out before a R2P type resolution on Sri Lanka because we can now call the bluff and the clues are getting too easy to predict and the actors and actresses are giving themselves away too early. Thankfully the British public have been all the wiser not to allow Cameron to do a Blair on Syria.

Ms. Pillay has also called for the Right to Information Act, Independent Commissions to oversee key Government institutions and devolution of power. May we remind Ms. Pillay that Sri Lanka cannot be led according to her wishes or dictates and she should know well what democracy means. The people have no desire for devolution “- what they do desire is the complete abolition of the provincial council system for it is just a waste of money and totally devoid of any service mechanism for the people. We are not benefitting from the provincial system because it is not an indigenous one “- what worked for us was the district council system so why does Ms. Pillay not speak about what worked for Sri Lanka and returning to that instead implementing something foreign which we know has failed since its launch in 1989 by India?

If her observations on Sri Lanka restricts to the lobbying by the 8 civil society and human rights groups she met up with then we are not in the least surprised by the concluding statements which continuously echo them.

Of course the Government would have taken stringent care to ensure Ms Pillay”‘s visit was without anything she could use to make a noise about and the fact that she admitted she could “‘go anywhere and see anything”‘ she wished to see shows clearly that the Government did not hide anything from her. Of course when anyone wants to see bad there are always avenues to see negatives.

It is surprising to note that Ms. Pillay would allocate 7 days of her busy schedule to Sri Lanka to visit a country now without terror. Crimes happen in every part of the world but Sri Lanka was a country that people were scared to leave homes because they were never sure of their return thanks to LTTE suicide bombers but all that ended in May 2009. However, what we are puzzled about is that Ms. Pillay never reserved 7 days for the people of Iraq, the people of Afghanistan and never has she dedicated so much time to the innocent people of these countries except for Sri Lanka. Is there a particular reason why? The important aspect of not visiting countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Libya and the like is because these nations all share something common “- they were invaded by foreign forces after manipulating the world and fooling them with false flag events and allegations and UN simply watched international law blatantly violated while these foreign forces militarily invaded these nations and bombed sites and people into oblivion. What about flowers for them, Ms. Pillai, were these not international violations and what has Ms. Pillay said about these crimes repeatedly taking place and while US and Allies were about to strike on Syria if not for Russia”‘s threat to bomb Saudi Arabia if US did so, not a word did Ms. Pillay issue from Sri Lanka in her role as UNHRC head. We find this extremely odd because had US and Allies struck missiles upon Syria it would have led to an all out war and possibly the start of a World War 3 “- so why did Ms Pillay remain silent?

As for meeting everyone we are interested to know why Ms. Pillay would include meeting up with a TNA politician cum Mahavir widow when there were hundreds and thousands of other families she should have met including spouses of still missing soldiers! We hope that Ms. Pillay will admit when she addresses the UN Human Rights Council that she made room for a former LTTE widow but not victims of LTTE terror some of whom are now blinded and unable to make a living simply because LTTE was a pawn for them.

We note with thanks that she has acknowledged the impressive development across the north and east within a short span of just 4 years “- where the people of these areas are now beneficiaries of basic infrastructure and facilities that the LTTE had denied them. Yes these are physical reconstruction and for dignity to return we need to have the perpetrators taken to task and that Ms. Pillay starts by collaring the LTTE fronts and the TNA for their terror crimes as well as many in Government and Opposition who had aligned with the LTTE for money and other remunerations “- all of these people now need to be named and they must all be punished for their crimes.

Her observations of the military presence obviously is an echo of the concerns placed by members of the TNA and likeminded and not the ordinary people of the North who have at no stage shown their dislike for the military or the presence and military presence is development is part and parcel of how the US armed corps functions so it is nothing exclusive to Sri Lanka. This is why she was careful to say that demilitarization was nothing that could be done over night. Ms.Pillay should know better than to confine her closing arguments to what she had “‘heard”‘ because we would immediately equate all that she says to what she had “‘heard”‘ without proof and for a UNHRC head to simply use her office to make statements on what she has “‘heard”‘ is simply not done. If she is concerned about private land acquisition she needs to question the UNF Government and present UNP leader as well as present foreign minister who was then part of the UNF Government as to how Mahavir families obtained Tamil lands and adjusted original deeds to include their names!

Now that Ms. Pillay brought up the subject of sexual abuse and the “‘We will teach you a lesson”‘ report prepared by the Human Rights Watch whose 140 page account gives just 175 cases over a 6 year period between 2006-2012 without corroborated evidence and classified as “‘widespread”‘ sexual abuse. Yet the former GA herself a Tamil admitted that much of the sexual abuse prevalent takes place not by army soldiers but by Tamils upon Tamils and committed by family members themselves. It is totally out of context for Ms. Pillay to plug this statement into her concluding statement to imply the army was to blame for sexual abuse.

We are also surprised that Ms. Pillay chose to keep silent about the child soldiers, the reintegrated former LTTE cadres.These were all key areas of concern throughout the post-war development. Similarly, it has not surprised us that having nothing to really complain about post-conflict Ms. Pillay has just a handful of issues that have now become the only issues laid before every discussion and this certainly directs the allegations to the groups she is in close association with.

We were well prepared for the suggestion that Ms Pillay would put forward to the Sri Lankan Government in the form of the witness protection legislation which will in a later discussion reveal the futility and showcase how the office of the UNHRC through the UN is subtly making attempts to hold a country”‘s law and order system under its wing.

We certainly take umbrage with Ms. Pillay and continue to question her conflict of interest clearly depicted in the manner she raised objection to the Buddhist flag being hoisted at Independence Square “- does Ms. Pillay not know that Buddhism is given the foremost place in the Constitution and that the Sinhalese are the indigenous race in Sri Lanka and Sinhalese Buddhists are the predominate majority? How would her remarks on the Buddhist flag relate to hate speech!

It is also surprising that Ms. Pillay uses a handful of isolated incidents to generalize that there is harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in Sri Lanka. Would Ms. Pillay say that there is harassment of Buddhists in India simply because 2 Buddhist monks were attacked in India? Or when a black is shot and killed in the US does it imply that all blacks are suffering harassment in the US and when journalists disappear and find themselves enjoying “‘foreign schols”‘ and given employment we just have to wonder the modus operandi behind these “‘disappearances”‘. But certainly we would welcome a Right to Information Act for it is opportune for the public to file cases against those wrong doers.

Yet, while Ms. Pillay takes offense for citing her lack of impartiality and the obvious conflict of interest that prevails leading to an ultra vires in conducting any further investigations on any matters related to Sri Lanka, we shall separately list her bias.

Ms. Pillay came to see the developments of the post-war and under that category she had absolutely nothing to find fault with Sri Lanka and that is what we need to take note of “- all other areas were simply plugged in to show a different agenda at play.

Thank you Shenali for the comprehensive rebuttal of the words of Ms Pillai. But the vital next step remains for the GoSL. And that is for the GoSL to prepare to Totally REJECT her observations and conclusions at the next UNHRC session in Geneva as the observations of a biased judge giving the reasons you and others have quoted including her ‘conflict of interests’ in matters pertaining to Sri Lanka – S de Silva – London

many have suggested the only alternative to the Tamil issue in Sri Lanka is the creation of Eelam. They base it on what they perceive as massive human rights violations, but when pressed for details they never and I repeat never give the exact details of these violation. Lets assume they are right then why has the formation of Eelam be so difficult. During the civil war both Pakistan and China supported Colombo while New Delhi refused to give or sell arms to Colombo and to this day avoids that aspect of the Indo/Sri Lankan relationship.

I have often stated that the creation of Eelam would eventually give New Delhi full access to the Indian ocean and simultaneously divide the power of Sri Lanka but what should also be stated is that the creation of Eelam will create a “Tamil region” From Tamil Nadu to the northern half of Sri Lanka and increase India’s strategic power.

That maybe why both Pakistan and China supported Colombo and will join Colombo again if another civil war breaks out to form Eelam. The idea of creating Eelam will be one of the biggest stumbling blocks for China will not allow India this strategic advantage and will use any means to prevent it. China (along with Russia) have the veto power in the Security Council to stop any UN action to create Eelam for a united Sri Lanka is more advantages to China’s strategic interests in the Indian ocean.

Sept 03 (NIE) The Sri Lankan army is getting suspicious about the real vocation of the itinerant sari traders from Tamil Nadu who roam the towns and villages of Tamil-speaking Northern and Eastern Provinces selling their wares in unconventional ways. According to the military, at any point of time, there may be 10 to 15 such traders in the North.

Maj Gen Boniface Perera, Security Forces (SF) Commander (Wanni), told newsmen late last week that the sari traders could well be spies in disguise.

When Express asked Gen Perera on what basis he was saying so, he said that traders did not seem to be making much money, and yet, they kept coming. Some of them had been caught and deported for misuse of the tourist visa or for overstaying. The other thing which intrigued him was the acceptance of payment on a liberal installment basis. It is said that payment is accepted in 12 monthly installments. However, no itinerant TN trader had been held or detained for suspected espionage, Gen Perera confirmed.

Asked for his assessment, Maj Gen Mahinda Hathurusinghe, SF commander (Jaffna) said: “I do not know whether they are spying or not, but their practices and persistence have created doubts in the minds of others. The most affected is the Jaffna trading community, which has a grouse that these traders, who pay no taxes, are doing brisk business, under-cutting local traders. They even take houses on rent if they come on three months’ tourist visas.”

R Jayasekaran, president of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce, said, “Saris come in containers from Chennai. Local agents distribute them among itinerant traders who go about in bicycles. If there is a direct shipping service between Chennai and Kankesanthurai, or an air service between Chennai and Palaly, Jaffna traders can also bring saris and other wares in bulk. Presently, Colombo is the only point of entry, which makes importation and transportation more costly for us,” he said.

Navi Pillay’s VIOLATIONS of the Impartiality she is supposed to exercise in her official role have been identified.

So, let the GOSL DEVELOP and EXECUTE a plan of action to use this body of evidence going to be used to get this Biased Tigress Fired from her UN Post!

……………………..Sri Lanka’s Peiris picks holes in Pillay’s report

ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 02 (Hindu) The report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka by United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights -Navi Pillay was “unfair, wrong and biased” said G.L Peiris Sri Lanka’s Minister for External Affairs. He was addressing a press conference at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London on Monday.

He said the “tone and substance” of the report showed a “distressing lack of balance.” Mr. Peiris contested several of the points made by Ms. Pillay in her report. Unlike Yugoslavia and Cambodia where post-conflict reconstruction took years, he said that Sri Lanka had made remarkable progress in reconstruction efforts in just four years since the end of the conflict. He said that the government had already invested US $ 3 billion in infrastructural development and in creating new opportunities for the people of the north.

Sri Lanka had invited Ms.Pillay in the interests of “transparency and visibility”, he said, allowing her free access to any part of the country she wished to visit. Her “trenchant criticism” of the presence and role of the army in the north, which she called “obtrusive and oppressive,” was incorrect, he said. She chose to ignore the findings of a report that was recently prepared by a group of UN agencies in Sri Lanka that came to the opposite conclusion. All this suggested that Ms.Pillay had “formed her views before reaching the shores of the country.”

The army, he said was in fact playing a constructive role in helping the complex and difficult transition from a state in conflict to post conflict stability. Ms.Pillay did not touch on the central issue of land, and of the problems in re-distributing land to those from whom the LTTE had forcibly acquired land and destroyed title deeds.

Mr. Peiris said that Ms.Pillay did not produce empirical evidence to substantiate her allegation that “Sri Lanka is moving towards authoritarianism.” He said that the northern province will vote this month in the provincial council elections after a gap of 25 years. “We have taken action to see that people can pass judgment on their own government. Is that authoritarianism?” he asked.

He said she provided no basis to her allegation that the government is guilty of “war crimes.”

The Sri Lankan government took exception to her plans which she later cancelled on paying floral tributes to the spot in Mullivaikal where LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran was killed. Mr. Peiris claimed that she had kept the Sri Lankan government in the dark about this. It was understandable, he said, if she had paid tributes to all those killed in the conflict in a neutral place, but this however was partial.

The TNA asks “How can there be Reconciliation, if the GOSL does not admit to crimes!”

This is a PREPOSTEROUS QUESTION coming from a TREASONOUS SEPARATISTS who supported the LTTE to commit murder and mayhem in EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE.

The Serial Murderers are now confidently Judging the Victims!

The ANSWER of course is that there can NEVER BE RECONCILIATION with TRAITORS, TERRORISTS, SEPARATISTS and MURDERERS at any time.

The GOSL rescued the citizens of the nation from the cluthches of these TERRORIST MASS MURDERERS and NEVER INTENDS to Apologize for EXECUTING its DUTY to PROTECT the lives of its citizens.

Instead, the GOSL should realize that its FAILURE to hold the Tiger Nominated Agents of the TNA ACCOUNTABLE for their ACTIONS of the PAST and the PRESENT by ARRESTING, PROSECUTING, CONVICTING and SEVERELY PUNISHING these people ENCOURAGES continued TREACHERY by them against the People of Sri Lanka.

I urge the GOSL to DO SO at least NOW, before these people of the TNA acquire power and BECOME IMMUNE to RETRIBUTION for their AWFUL CRIMES!

…………………….Sri Lanka Tamil party says government must apologize for mistakes made

ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 02, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Tamil National Alliance (TNA) says the government must apologize for mistakes made and ensure such mistakes would not happen again if it needs true reconciliation in the country.

TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said the government should either apologize to the families of missing persons or accept that such crimes have happened and ensure that will not happen again in future.

He said the Tamil party is continuing to push for an international investigation on accountability and war crimes.

“If the government is adamant that what they did was correct and is not willing to accept their mistakes, how can there be reconciliation in this country?” Premachandran asked.

He explained that there are thousands of people still missing or killed and there could not be reconciliation without the truth being asserted.

“I am not saying that anyone should cow down to the Tamil people, but the truth must be asserted in a proper way, and the government is not in favor of that. That is why I feel that an independent international investigation is vital. You cannot expect any independent investigation from this government,” Premachandran said.

Referring to the recent visit of UN High Commissioner for Human rights Navi Pillay, the TNA MP said the main purpose of her visit was to see if the recommendations specified in the LLRC report have been implemented.

As far as we know, past President Chandrika Kumaratunge has apologised twice to the Tamils of Sri Lanka without saying why.
No Tamil leader from the North has ever apologised to the rest of Sri Lanka for any crimes Tamil leaders have heaped on Sri Lanka for well over 30 years, starting with Tamil Separatism after Independence (1948).

Ananda USA : the REAL Tamil illegal migrants are already entrenched in Sri Lanka. It is not the sari sellers from Tamil Nadu, but those Tamil people who came in during ltte rule of the N&NE. The Army intelligence reckoned the ltte ‘Human Shield’ held about 100,000 Tamil people, but it turned out that there were about 300,000 people in it. How did this happen ?

Also, about a Million Tamil people left Sri Lanka as refugees to the west, but the Tamil numbers remain the virtually the same (2013 Census). Also, re the increase in Muslim figures in Sri Lanka : Tamil Muslims are TAMIL PEOPLE who have converted to Islam, hence the M-TNA – isn’t this correct ? So we have to add those numbers too.

The SAARC rules allow any SAARC member country citizen to come freely ‘visa on entry’ into Sri Lanka. Considering our Security position, is it wise to go along with such a law ? SAARC members are : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, INDIA, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.

Yes, you and I have been FOCUSING on bringing attention to the MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION (of over a Million people) into Sri Lanka during LTTE control of the North & East during several decades.

I don’t see the GOSL taking up this issue, but is intent on solidifying their bogus claim to Sri Lankan citizenship by allowing them to vote in the upcoming PC elections. I have contacted various influential politicians in Sri Lanka and have brought it to their attention.

This Holding of PC Elections before the Eligibility/Citizenship of Voters is Established is TYPICAL of the Cart-Before-The-Horse approach to governance that has bedevilled Sri Lanka in the past allowing the LTTE to thrive and grow into a MASSIVE THREAT to the nation as a whole. When a MASSIVE PROBLEM is pointed out …. the Govt just ignores it … …. the SILENCE IS DEAFENING!

We despair on this point. We too have written in or spoken about it – and no one seems to know what to do. I do not know WHY it is ignored at this point in time. It was and is going to be a bad habit, this crossing over to Lanka and hang around till someone gives them jobs, homes, ID cards, etc. It is this group who will form vote blocs for the TNA Separatists.
May be it is India as they will always help Tamil Nadu to offload unwanted, poverty/caste bound people into Lanka or any other place.

Also, the Maldivian person who came to Sri Lanka a few years ago to float his revolution in the Maldives did so ILLEGALLY.
Prabhakaran’s grandfather was an illegal migrant from Tamil Nadu area. Why are we allowing Revolutionists from SAARC countries to come here illegally to do their acts of mischief ? why not other islands in the Indian Ocean ?

Ananda, I can’t help thinking that in the past, the Buddhist thinking got too mixed in with the Law of the Land. We have to separate the two.

——————

Ms Pillai said that her commitment is to remove ‘institutionalised discrimination’. Please do so in Tamil Nadu itself, and not in Lanka. We Lankans do not recognise the Caste Structure of TN or the rest of India. TN has about 11 Million Tamils classified under Scheduled Castes. Madam Pillai : what do you intend to do ?

Govt. has issued TEMPORARY IDs for identified TN illegal immigrants to vote at the election hoping they will vote for UPFA. By producing the temporary ID they can get national IDs and are SLs thereafter!!!!

Immediately after the LTTE was defeated, President Mahinda Rajapaksa proclaimed that there are only TWO kinds of Sri Lankans: Those who LOVE Sri Lanka and those who DON’T.

That is still holds true today; there is no better definition of what separates a citizen who deserves an equal share of the bounty and benefits of citizenship in our beloved Motherland, and those who don’t.

In the PUBLIC SPHERE we care not what your race, religion, language, caste, sex or wealth is; We care only that you are a PATRIOTIC LAW-ABIDING citizen of Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, if you undermine or commit TREASON against Sri Lanka, identifying with foreign communities of whatever origin, you will be tarred, feathered and punished till the cows come home …. irrespective of your community affiliation. There is no refuge for TRAITORS in Sri Lanka: Disce’ Aut Discede’!

Therefore, we say to all potential miscreants: Spare yourself and JOIN THE PATRIOTS embracing ALL of your fellow citizens who love Mother Lanka as your very own … irrespective of community. Otherwise, depart for whatever part of the world will treat your better … with our heartfelt blessings and fervent relief!

Sept 03, Colombo: The increasing insularity amongst minority ethnic groups in Sri Lanka is leading to the emergence of hard line groups within the majority community which is causing further tension among other communities, Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gothabhaya Rajapaksa warned today.

Addressing the third annual Defence Seminar at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo, the Defence Secretary said tensions within communities lead to fragmentation of the Sri Lankan identity and it is a critical challenge that the entire nation faces today.

He said the indication of increasing communalism amongst ethnic groups is cause for concern as the fragmentation of the Sri Lankan identity into ethno-religious identification is not only unfortunate in itself, but it can also lead to other problems in the long term.

He cited the allegiance of some in the Tamil community who identify more with the Tamil community of Tamil Nadu than with their fellow Sri Lankans and similarly, Sri Lankan Muslims identifying themselves more with the global Muslim community and reducing their integration with the rest of the population.

The Defence Secretary pointed out that law enforcement agencies and security forces in the country are concerned about the communalism and the possibility that extremist elements may try to promote Muslim extremism in Sri Lanka is a cause for concern.

Much remains to be done to ensure national reconciliation in Sri Lanka – Defence Secretary

ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 03, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said today that speedy national reconciliation in Sri Lanka is not easy since for a very long period of time, most of the people in the North and parts of the East of the country lived under the total dominance of the Tamil Tiger terrorist group LTTE.

“Despite the success of the Welfare camps, despite the speed of resettlement, and despite the far-reaching nature of the rehabilitation and reintegration programme, it is not easy to ensure speedy reconciliation,” the Defence Secretary said.

Delivering the Keynote Address Today (03) as Guest of Honour at the third annual Defence Seminar 2013 organized by the Sri Lanka Army, Rajapaksa said at the same time, it has to be acknowledged that much remains to be done by all parties, including the Government, to ensure that national reconciliation is achieved.

The top defence official of the government pointed out that the most essential task of the government in this regard is to ensure that all Sri Lankans have the same opportunities and unobstructed access to state services, and that they are empowered to seek better futures for themselves in a peaceful, stable and rapidly developing democracy.

He said that one of the most crucial steps towards the restoration of normalcy in the North and East was the revival of the democratic process through the restoration of elections and the return of political plurality.

Pointing out that the government is holding provincial council elections in the Northern Province later this month, the Defence Secretary said that the opposition parties including the main opposition UNP, Tamil party TNA and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, as well as ruling party SLFP are all freely contesting in this election shows that political plurality is firmly established in this region.

Speaking of post-war challenges the country is facing after the democracy have been accomplished, the defence official said Sri Lanka must swiftly move forward.

“We must evolve from being locked in a post-conflict mentality, and look to the future instead of forever grappling with the issues of the past. We must be willing to move forward as a nation, united by what we have in common instead of being divided by the differences we have between us,” Rajapaksa said.

He asked the main political parties in Sri Lanka to stop the politicization of divisive issues for their petty political gain since the main issues the nation is faced with cannot be solved overnight and will require time.

“In reality, these problems are fundamentally economic, and affect Sri Lankans in every part of the country irrespective of their race or religion. They are national issues that need to be faced together as a nation, rather than treated as divisive ethnic or religious issues confined to a region or a section of the community,” he said.

Rajapaksa stressed that the biggest challenge the country has is economic development, especially, unequal development between the cities and the rural areas.

He warned that if the problem of rural underdevelopment is not holistically addressed, it is conceivable that similar problems to what the country experienced in the past will once again arise.

The Defence Secretary, outlining the measures needed to meet the challenges of achieving national unity and meaningful economic development, said preventing the re-emergence of terrorism is essential.

Other measures include establishing effective methods to project Sri Lanka to the international community, suppressing the emergence of other extremist groups, preventing further ethnic divisions and communal violence, ensuring maritime security and border control, curtailing the growth of organized crime and addressing the new challenges in safeguarding a just and wholesome democracy.

Beyond the local challenges, there are significant international challenges Sri Lanka faces due to its strategic geographic position within the South Asian region, Rajapaksa noted.

As a result there are some “inter-linking of domestic issues” between Sri Lanka and India, he observed.

India is very sensitive to events in Sri Lanka because of the large Tamil population in its influential southern state of Tamil Nadu and therefore particularly during elections, Sri Lanka figures large in Indian power politics, he explained.

Also, Sri Lanka’s cordial relationship with China has sometimes become an issue for other countries because of misperceptions about the nature of China’s influence, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said adding that the power politics between key countries in the region, such as India and China, or India and Pakistan, are also important issues for Sri Lanka because of its relationships with these nations.

“Sri Lanka’s journey during the four years since the dawn of peace has seen the country transform itself from a nation at war to one of the most peaceful, stable and secure democracies in the world. How well the country navigates its present issues, including national security challenges and broader geo-political issues arising from its geographical position, will determine its destiny,” the Defence Secretary said concluding his speech.

The GOSL should seize ALL SUCH OPPORTUNITIES to achieve “Reconciliation” of Accounts with the TNA.

……………………TNA attempt to blame army for rape incident backfires

DailyNews.lk
September 5, 2013

An attempt by the TNA and the Tamil Diaspora to place the blame on the army for the alleged rape of a 47 year old Tamil woman on the eve of the arrival in the country of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay came a cropper.

Iit has now transpired that the alleged rapist was in fact an ex-LTTEer who was involved in the recruitment of child soldiers.

This strategy by the TNA coupled with their irresponsible remarks hurling baseless accusations against the army was a means of countering the party’s rapidly waning popularity in the Pooneryn area while at the same time driving a wedge between the Army and villagers who have been enjoying a cordial relationship.

This false allegation and misleading malicious media campaign to tarnish the image of the Army was led by TNA Parliamentarian Sridharan at political rallies. Later TNA Chief Ministerial Candidate C. V. Wigneswaran also joined in the campaign against the SL Army and even had a secret meeting with a top official of the Canadian Embassy and another person to apportion blame on the military.

However, the incident leading to this crime took a new turn with the discharge of victim Mrs. Thevarasa Punidarani from Kilinochchi Hospital on 30 August 2013. On her return she has revealed the details of the perpetrators identity.

She has revealed the details of the crime in front of her elder brother, and other officials and stated that a person known to her by the name of Kandasami Tharanigaran from Kowdarmunei and another person around 25 years of age who is unknown to her raped her.

When asked from her why she didn’t reveal these details earlier; her explanation was she was confused and under extreme mental agony that she couldn’t believe what happened to her. In addition she has revealed that Kandasami Tharanigaran came to see her twice to Kilinochchi Hospital and threaten her not to reveal his identity.

Kandasami Tharanigaran was a person who happened to be a fisherman, and his two siblings joined the LTTE and died during the fighting. Further he( Tharanigaran) was a person who used to have strong links with regional LTTE political leaders thus actively engaged in forcibly recruiting and kidnapping youngsters and others for the LTTE.

At present there are some persons living in Poonaryn who happened to be his victims during the LTTE occupation period. The villagers held Kandasami Tharanigaran in contempt due to his adverse track record and criminal behaviour.

There are justifiable reasons to believe that this was a staged crime to frame Army Troops and discredit the government. The involvement of TNA Politicians, their irresponsible remarks and baseless accusations proves the motive for the incident.

In a background where TNA is highly unpopular in Pooneryn this was an incident created to cause dissent among the civil population thus antagonising them away from the Sri Lanka Army personnel who maintain a cordial relationship with all the villagers.

Some reasonable doubts were also raised since this incident took place prior to the arrival of UN high Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneethan Pillay suggesting that there is a conspiracy behind the incident with the intention of accusing the troops.

NOTE that Vaiko OPPOSES the building of a Dam across the Cauvery River because it adversely affects Tamil Nadu. With Vaiko, it is ALWAYS what benefits Tamils … to hell with ALL other people!

More importantly, State Powers in India limit National Development Projects that cut across State borders.

This will happen CONTINUOUSLY in Sri Lanka, once the TNA assumes control of the Northern and Eastern Provincial Councils. The TNA will OPPOSE every National Project that will benefit non-Tamils living in bordering Provinces.

Still think the PCs should have LAND Powers?

The People of Sri Lanka will RUE THE DAY when UNREPENTANT SEPARATISTS were allowed to ATTAIN in PEACE the RACIST GOALS they failed to WIN by an UNREMITTING RACIST WAR lasting 30 years!

…………..Oust Lanka from commonwealth, says Vaiko

By Express News Service – VELLORE
September 5, 2013

Sri Lanka should be removed from the Commonwealth for its anti-Tamil activities, said Vaiko, president of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (MDMK) here on Wednesday. He was here in Vellore to participate in the preparatory meeting for the party’s 105th birth anniversary conference of Aringnar Anna, at Virudhunagar on September 15,

Vaiko said the Congress has betrayed the interests of people of TN and Tamils in Lanka. “Sri Lanka should be removed from the Commonwealth and the meet should not be held at Sri Lanka,” he said, adding, “I do not want India to boycott the meet; by doing so, the Congress would take advantage politically.” He said,“People had lost faith in the Congress-led UPA due to the bad economic policies leading to an economic disaster.”

On a dam across the Cauvery at Meghadathu, Vaiko said the project should be stopped as it was against the interest of people of TN.

Christie Says:
September 7th, 2013 at 3:49 am
I just got some news from a friend in the island nation. He tried to put a paid advertisement in the Daily News and the Island news papers. The DN Advertising manager refused to publish it even it was a paid advertisement. The Island took it and the money but later refused to publish it and offered to refund the money.

The ad was a 2 columns by 5 cm:

” Navi Pillai; Hon UNHRC You are an Indian colonial parasite from Africa Hence you should keep out of the affairs of the subjects of the Indian Empire”

The DN is a government run news paper and the Island’s owner Upali Wijeyawardana was blown off by the Indian colonial parasites of Malaysia, agents of the Indian Empire.

Ms. Navi Pillay your drama that you played in Sri Lanka is laughable as it reminds us the story of the wolf with the coat of sheep’s skin. You claim as you are a South African but don’t you realise by your name itself that you are from the same tamilian roots which Velu Pillay , the head of murderous organisation as how you name LTTE was originated from?

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